3 min read 
David Luchtenberg, General Manager of Germany, sits with Adzine to discuss the changing landscape of audience targeting in the privacy-first era. He emphasises the growing demand for location and audience-based targeting while acknowledging the need to protect personal data.
Read the interview below:
Hello David, Adsquare offers both location-based and audience-based targeting to the advertising market. How is the demand for the targeting products developing at the moment?
The demand for our location-based and audience-based targeting products remains steady. Additionally, we have introduced a brand new targeting product called ‘Audiences in Motion’ which offers an ID-free way to reach consumers. At Adsquare, we connect audience data with mobility data from our panel to make probabilistic assumptions of where specific audiences over-index for any hour of the day. This innovative method enables precise targeting without relying on the use of personal data.
Regarding the creation of target audiences, the Mobile Advertising ID is required to associate the data with the respective device. However, obtaining user consent is crucial for this process. Market observers state that consent rates have dropped. Has this led to an overall decrease in ID availability, making it more difficult to create audiences? Can you give us current figures on this?
At Adsquare, all data processing for our products and platforms is based on consent, even prior to the implementation of GDPR. Therefore, we have not been negatively affected by issues such as e-privacy or the iOS 14 update in terms of reach. On the contrary, when illegally collected or low-quality data leaves the ecosystem, it benefits both advertisers and consumers.
Adsquare is not interested in individual user profiles and we do not maintain a database of the number of identifiers.
What is your strategy in the event that you have to completely abandon Mobile IDs in the future, as they are considered obsolete, similar to third-party cookies?
ID-based targeting is already less important to us than it was a few years ago. With the introduction of our ID-free audience targeting, which does not use personal data such as mobile ad IDs, we can still deliver and optimise relevant campaigns. In this case, delivery can even take place across channels, such as mobile, CTV or OOH.
Measuring the effectiveness of ad spend may also require new approaches that we are already working on today. One way is to use panel-based, modelled and aggregated forms of measurement, which will fill the gaps if existing 1:1 methods are phased out.
How do you envision the future development of targeting for advertisers?
There will continue to be a diverse range of ID-based, contextual and location-based targeting products. In addition, it remains to be seen whether new identifiers for advertising purposes will become the standard. In this regard, we have joined the ‘Unified ID 2.0’ initiative launched by one of our partners, The Trade Desk, which is working on an open-source identity solution for the open internet.
Which data sources for targeting are currently underutilised? Are there any interesting data types that you would like to use but are currently inaccessible or prohibited?
There are intriguing data types that integrate well with our product portfolio and that we want to further expand across our 30 markets. I find the use of anonymised and aggregated telco data in the space particularly useful. Also, in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) space, for example, aggregated purchasing data can be used to generate relevant offers for retail customers, all while safeguarding personal data.
Do you think we will still have addressable target groups in three years?
Of course, there will still be addressable target groups in three years’ time. The majority of users who consume free content every day also prefer relevant advertising. However, more anonymised and aggregated data will be used in order to comply with increasingly strict international laws.
The interview was conducted by Anton Priebe, Editor-in-Chief at Adzine, and originally published in German. You can find the article here.